Samsung in the Publishing world

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The Ereader that failed Samsung

I really like Anthony’s blog post even though it is a relatively old article, not because I find the content to have anything to do with recent events but more because it addresses Samsung looking like a clueless child in the world of ebooks and ereaders. Samsung launched an ereader back in 2010 and it did not go well and unconsciously, Anthony seems to have noted the reasons why.

I believe the main reason Samsung has failed in this sector is because they have failed to grasp the objective behind ereaders. An ereader is not a book, it is a software, which means that not all readers will turn to ereaders to read books. Same goes for apps of the same nature. Such devices are only pleasing because they offer an ease of use for light reading, easy transportation and can contain many titles at once. For example, instead of taking ten books to a vacation, one can instead pack an ereader containing twenty titles and have more room in their suitcase to pack other things.

But Samsung made a mistake. Or said differently, Samsung misinterpreted its market. Instead of creating a device that was suitable for a larger and more general public, Samsung created an ereader that cost 300$ because of its note-taking feature. There can be individuals who prefer this type of ereader and would be willing to pay the extra hundred dollars for such a feature but the important fact is that the average reader will not invest that amount of money for a feature they do not need. How can Samsung expect someone to purchase this 300$ ereader when there are other good ereaders for more than half the price? It just doesn’t make sense.

What Samsung needs to do is wake up and realize that they can’t be the best at everything. Even now, with their series of ereading applications failing (as touched upon in previous posts), they still try to keep a place in the publishing world.

Samsung can do without an ebook device and applications. They are that good but it seems that they just don’t understant it. I wish I could just tell them.